Home care report shows patients ‘wanted to die’ over abuse and neglect

Britain’s elderly and vulnerable are being failed by a home care system which breaches their human rights and leaves some ‘wanting to die’.

The damning conclusion from the Close to Home inquiry, conducted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), found hundreds of thousands of people are not being protected properly by the Human Rights Act.

Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people are being failed by the home care system (PA)

Although around half of those who took part in the inquiry were satisfied with their care, the commission also found cases of both physical and financial abuse.

Examples were also found of people having their privacy and dignity disregarded and even being failed in the support they’re offered for basic and essential tasks like eating and drinking, leaving some ‘wanting to die’.

One 76-year-old woman told the inquiry: ‘It was this intrusion into my home, I felt worse than a baby … a package that was just left there.

‘I just wanted to curl up and die.’

Budget cuts also mean one in three local councils have already reduced their spending on home care, while a further one in five plan on doing so in the next year.

Sally Greengross, commissioner for the EHRC, said the commission is recommending the law is changed so those receiving publicly funded home care are protected under the Human Rights Act in the future.

She added. ‘The emphasis is on saving pennies rather than providing a service which will meet the very real needs of our grandparents, our parents, and eventually all of us.’